Many people readily acquire goods from multiple sources, such as, for example, large discount stores, malls, mail order catalogs, television shopping channels and internet sites. An increasing number of these sources can also utilize postal or other delivery services to deliver goods to customers. The increased availability of delivery-based shopping sources has generally increased consumers access to a wide variety of goods.
While consumers have experienced increased access to a variety of goods, there remains relatively limited options to dispose of unwanted goods. Over time people can accumulate goods that, for various reasons, they no longer want to possess. For example, a person may no longer need the use of a good, may no longer desire to keep a good, or may receive an unnecessary or redundant good as a gift. If a person no longer wants a good they must decide how to dispose of the unwanted good.
One method of disposing of an unwanted good may be to sell the good. A person may sell a good at a market for second-hand or used goods. Recently, some internet sites have allowed people to sell and buy used goods. Some internet sites allow the general public to view goods offered for sale and bid on the goods via an auction system. Such sites may benefit from large numbers of people viewing the goods offered for sale and potentially bidding on the goods.
Another method of disposing of unwanted goods may include trading the goods. In some instances a person may offer to trade a good to another person for a different good. Generally such trading requires that the people involved in the trade must come to an agreement regarding the respective values of the goods to be traded. Further, for a trade to occur between two people both should want a good offered for trade by the other person. Such trading between two people can be limiting as both people must receive goods the other person possesses and wants to trade.
Some Internet sites have been developed to permit internet-based trades. Generally these sites have used a limited variety of different trading methods. For example, some sites used token, or other quasi-currency systems, to assign an arbitrary “value” to goods. Such systems generally allowed a person to set the value of their goods using a quasi-currency system offered by a site. A person may then participate in trades with other people using the quasi-currency system and trade for other goods based on the respective value of the goods. Trades for goods of different value often result in credits or debits to accounts held by the people participating in the trade.
Other Internet sites provided trading systems utilizing negotiated trades. Such systems typically permit people to provide descriptions of their goods for trade. If Person B wished to trade for a good of Person A, Person B may read the description of Person A's good and then propose a trade based on the description of the good. Person A may then view Person B's list of goods for trade to determine if a suitable trade could be made. Additional negotiations between the two people may be required to complete the trade, such as, for example, including additional items or money in the trade to even up the value of the goods, requesting additional information about the goods, determining who pays for shipping the goods, insurance costs, etc.
These and other internet-based trading operations generally did not provide efficient or effective methods to trade unwanted goods. Some sites were complicated or difficult to use, often requiring people to value their goods or provide descriptions of their goods. Other sites often required people to spend long periods of time determining possible trades, selecting goods, negotiating trades or updating information.